Iranian Journal of Oil and Gas Science and Technology

Abstract Using nanoparticles for adsorbing asphaltene is an efficient method for upgrading actual oil samples compared to other expensive mechanical treatments or even solvents, such as n-pentane and n-heptane, and surfactants. This study uses nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles for asphaltene adsorption and solving asphaltene precipitation problems. Although nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles have been used in previous studies as an asphaltene adsorbent, observing the relationship between asphaltene adsorption on their surface and asphaltene precipitation in the presence of nanoparticles during the actual process is not covered. For addressing this relation, we performed a series of experiments included Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), CO₂–oil interfacial tension tests, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, and natural depletion tests in the presence of nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles. The Langmuir model better fitted the adsorption data than the Freundlich model, which shows that the adsorption occurs on a homogeneous surface with monolayer coverage. Based on the CO₂–oil interfacial tension results, there are two different slope forms in interfacial tension readings as pressure increases from 150 to 1650 psi. Due to asphaltene aggregation, the second slope (900–1650 psi) is slower than the first one (150–900 psi). Three pressures of 1350, 1500, and 1650 psi and nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles at a concentration of 30 ppm were selected for the natural depletion tests, and the basis of selection was high-efficiency adsorption at these points. As pressure decreased from 1650 to 1350 psi, asphaltene precipitation changed from 8.25 to 10.52 wt % in the base case, and it varied from 5.17 to 7.54 wt % in the presence of nickel–zeolite oxide at a concentration of 30 ppm. Accordingly, nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles adsorbed asphaltene on their surface correctly, and the amount of asphaltene precipitation decreased in the presence of nickel–zeolite oxide nanoparticles.

Abstract This study presents a robust and rigorous method based on intelligent models, namely radial basis function networks optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO-RBF), multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLP-NNs), and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system optimized by particle swarm optimization methods (PSO-ANFIS), for predicting the equilibrium and kinetics of the adsorption of sulfur and nitrogen containing compounds from a liquid hydrocarbon model fuel on mesoporous materials. All the models were evaluated by the statistical and graphical methods. The predictions of the models were also compared with different kinetics and equilibrium models. The results showed that although all the models lead to accurate results, the PSO-ANFIS model represented the most reliable and dependable predictions with the correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.99992 and average absolute relative deviation (AARD) of 0.039%. The developed models are also able to predict the experimental data with better precision and reliability compared to literature models.

Abstract Separation of nitrogen from a gaseous mixture is required for many industrial processes. In this study, the adsorption of nitrogen on zeolite 4A was investigated in terms of different adsorption isotherm models and kinetics. An increase in the initial pressure from 1 to 9 bar increases the amount of adsorbed nitrogen from 6.730 to 376.030 mg/(g adsorbent). The amount of adsorbed nitrogen increased from 7.321 to 40.594 mg/(g adsorbent) by raising the temperature from 298 to 333 K at a pressure equal to one bar; however, it then dropped to 15.767 mg/(g adsorbent) when temperature decreased to 353 K. Increasing the amount of the adsorbent from 1 to 4 g decreased the specific adsorption from 67.565 to 21.008 mg/(g adsorbent) at a temperature of 298 K and a pressure of 3 bar. Furthermore, it was found that the nitrogen adsorption experimental equilibrium data are consistent with Sips and Langmuir-Freundlich models. The highest overlap was achieved through second order and Ritchie’s models.

Abstract Corrosion results in hazardous and expensive damage to pipelines, vehicles, water and wastewater systems, and even home appliances. One of the most extensively practical methods for protecting metals and alloys against corrosion is to use organic inhibitors. The inhibition capability of 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (2-MBT) against the corrosion of carbon steel in a 2 M NaCl solution was examined by Tafel polarization. By using 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole both the cathodic and anodic reactions are delayed through chemical and physical adsorption and blocking the active corrosion sites. Based on the polarization curves, it was indicated that by increasing the inhibitor concentration, the inhibition efficiency increases up to 70% at room temperature, and it improves at higher temperatures. The adsorption of 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole was based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The enthalpies of activation were determined to be around +50 kJ.mol^-1. The endothermic nature of the steel dissolution procedure is reflected by the positive symbols of the enthalpies (ΔH) of activation process. The determined  values range from -32.69 to -35.81 kJ.mol^-1, which shows both electrostatic adsorption and the chemisorption of the adsorption mechanism. The calculated entropy of adsorption was 78 J.mol^-1_.K^-1 indicating the increment in the solvent entropy and a more positive water desorption entropy.

Abstract In this work, adsorbents, namely bentonite and sludge, modified by iron and copper were used to remove the H₂S and mercaptan from Kermanshah refinery. The used adsorbents are inexpensive materials, which substantially decrease the operational costs. The structure of the adsorbents was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The effects of gas and flow rate on the H₂S and mercaptan removal were also studied. The results indicated that the bentonite modified by iron has a high capacity for removing H₂S (32.256 mg/g) and mercaptan (0.98 mg/g). Moreover, the adsorption capacity of the sludge modified by copper for removing H₂S and mercaptan was 11.18 and 0.81 mg/g respectively. Furthermore, by increasing the flow rate and concentration of H₂S and mercaptan, H₂S and mercaptan concentrations in the sludge output gas increased, but no considerable change was observed in the bentonite output gas.

Abstract The adsorption and separation properties of 3A zeolite are investigated by using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation. To obtain the adsorption isotherms of water, methyl mercaptan, and methane on 3A zeolite, COMPASS Force Filed is used. The adsorption isotherms of the pure components and the ternary mixtures of water, methyl mercaptan, and methane on 3A zeolites are calculated. The Sips Model is taken into account for the description of water adsorption on 3A zeolite. In addition, the effects of pressure and temperature on the adsorption of components are examined. The results demonstrate that the water has high adsorption selectivity on 3A zeolite, and this kind of adsorbent is a good candidate for the dehydration of natural gas.

Abstract The Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) approach is adopted here to evaluate the impact of
effective factors such as nanoparticles type, nanoparticles to model solution mass ratio, asphaltene
structure, and temperature on asphaltene adsorption equilibrium. Herein, the toluene-asphaltene
solution model is applied. Three commercially nanoparticles (SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2) are used.
Asphaltene characterizations are carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. It is found that the
nanoparticle type and asphaltene structure with a respective influence of 48.5% and 3.11% have the
maximum and minimum contribution on the amount of adsorbed asphaltene at the selected levels
respectively. Aluminum oxide nanoparticle has the maximum and silicon oxide nanoparticle shows
the minimum adsorption. The temperature has no statistical significance. Asphaltenes with higher
aromaticity have more tendencies for adsorption on nanoparticles.

Abstract The main factor affecting the economics of foam-assisted water alternative gas (FAWAG) process is the loss of foaming agent by adsorption onto reservoir rocks. In this study, the effects of phases, surfactant concentration, salinity, adsorbents, and sacrificial agent on adsorption density were investigated by special adsorption experiments. Moreover, a series of FAWAG tests were performed to examine the effect of injection rates on final adsorption density and adsorption variation during the test. A clean and fast spectrophotometric method was used for the determination of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration based on the formation of an ion-pair, SDS-Safranin O. Higher SDS adsorption was observed at the first cycle of FAWAG flooding. FAWAG injection rate had no noticeable effect on the adsorption density. However, using high injection rate decreased the possibility that gas faces surfactant, and thereby reducing the ultimate oil recovery. The presence of CLS increases the ultimate oil recovery slightly, while it decreases the adsorption density of SDS by 22%.

Abstract It seems using the Maxwell-Stefan (M-S) diffusion model in combination with the vacancy solution theory (VST) and the single-component adsorption data provides a superior, qualitative, and quantitative prediction of diffusion in zeolites. In the M-S formulation, thermodynamic factor (Г) is an essential parameter which must be estimated by an adsorption isotherm. Researchers usually utilize the simplest form of adsorption isotherms such as Langmuir or improved dual-site Langmuir, which eventually cannot predict the real behavior of mixture diffusion particularly at high concentrations of adsorbates because of ignoring nonideality in the adsorbed phase. An isotherm model with regard to the real behavior of the adsorbed phase, which is based on the vacancy solution theory (VST) and considers adsorbate-adsorbent interactions, is employed. The objective of this study is applying vacancy solution theory to pure component data, calculating thermodynamic factor (Г), and finally evaluating the simulation results by comparison with literature. Vacancy solution theory obviously predicts thermodynamic factor better than simple models such as dual-site Langmuir.

Abstract Copper trimesate (Cu-BTC) MOF has been pointed out as a promising adsorbent for separating carbon dioxide from methane. However, MOF’s need to be shaped prior to their use in packed bed adsorbers in order to reduce pressure drop; on the other hand, the production of mechanically resistant shaped bodies reduces their adsorption performance. In this work, Cu-BTC tablets provided by BASF are evaluated to perform CO₂/CH₄ separation through adsorption. The adsorption capacity of pure carbon dioxide from methane was measured in a magnetic suspension balance between temperatures of 308 and 373 K up to a pressure of 700 kPa. The evaluated material presents higher adsorption capacity than previously studied shaped samples with a carbon dioxide and methane adsorption capacity up to 3.07 and 0.63 mol/kg at 100 kPa and 308 K respectively. Moreover, the experimental data were fitted with the Langmuir model. Isosteric heats of adsorption were obtained to be 22.8 and 15.1 kJ/mol for CO₂ and CH₄ on Cu-BTC tablets respectively, which indicates a strong adsorption of carbon dioxide on these adsorbents. Also, single and binary breakthrough curves were measured in the same temperature range and atmospheric pressure by using Cu-BTC tablets as the adsorbent. The preferential adsorption capacity of CO₂ on nanoporous copper trimesate (Cu-BTC) indicates that this material can be used for methane purification from natural gas.